For Sale: Haunted House Boarded Up for 60 Years

'Haunted House' for Sale in Canada

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario -- If ever there was a house that seemed hospitable to ghosts, 240 Centre Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake would be it, and it’s been the subject of local ghost stories and paranormal websites for years.

An elegant, stately but simple two-story house of soft pink brick, it has been abandoned for almost 60 years, boarded up against curiosity seekers and vandals who have nevertheless found their way in. It was broken into as recently as Halloween, and the plywood door covering and lock were replaced yet again.

Inside, most of what you see is original, including brick room partitions and wood floors. Other features such as the original window frames and shutters are piled up against the walls. There are four fireplaces on the main floor and another four upstairs, some with mantles intact, plus two more in the basement, which was used as a kitchen. There is no electricity and shining a flashlight around reveals hunks of hanging ceiling, missing floorboards and burned interior doors and framework. A large hole in the roof has left the inside of the house open to the elements for decades and yet, there is no sign of four-legged pest invasion. The real estate agent says he has never seen an abandoned house that didn’t have some evidence of animals moving in, yet there are no telltale signs in this building so open to the elements.

If there are ghosts, they seem to be friendly, even welcoming – for all the dilapidated condition of the house, it has a positive energy agree the three of us on this particular house tour. It has been home to drifters and a popular place for kids to break into in search of ghosts.

Officially, the old home is called the Breakenridge-Ure house, the third house built in 1823 by John Breckenridge, a lawyer. There were tales of it’s being possessed by witches in its early history and some mention of slaves – who lived in the barn and went back and forth from it to what became the Hawley house next door – being buried under a knoll on the half-acre property.

Local ghost tour guide Bill Hamilton says the tale he tells is of an owner who left in the middle of the night with his family, saying nothing to neighbors. It was not listed for sale, but was then bought by Robert Ure, a local man. Years later, after telling real estate agents not to bother him, Ure was approached in a restaurant by an interested buyer who offered him $1 million for the property. Ure told the man the house was not for sale and ended the conversation saying, “This house has a life of its own!”

Hamilton also tells the story of a couple young boys who broke into to the house based on local ghost and witch tales. They to the front door, where they found a hole big enough to fit through and as they were arguing over who was brave enough to enter, they were interrupted by a spark on the second floor that caught the roof on fire and sent the urchins racing home. The following day, they returned to find the house is as it was before, despite the fire both had seen.

Actually, there was a fire upstairs in the house – that’s no ghost story, says real estate broker Gary Chahinian. The damage was extensive and is still evident. He was told by the executor of the Ure estate that a vagabond living in the house more than 30 years ago was cooking and when he heard someone enter the house, he thought the police were coming to arrest. He hurried out of the house and whatever he was cooking started the fire.

There are several people in town who have stories to tell about boys who used to break into the house. One local man swears he wasn’t one of them, but he heard stories firsthand from some of his friends who did. They admitted they ripped up bits of wood and had fires at night, he said.

But the ghosts are not the real mystery – for years, people have driven past the house, which is on the corner of Mississauga Street, and wondered who owned it and why it’s been empty for so long. The house was purchased in 1956 by George and Cecilia Roberts, the seventh owners. They planned to renovate it, maintaining as much of the original structure as possible, according to a St. Catharines Standard article.

Robert Ure, a local surveyor who was known for finding good deals on houses before they were officially put on the market, bought it from the Roberts couple with the same intention, just two years later, but although there is speculation about why he never fixed up the house, nobody is certain. Chahinian says a letter written by Robert to his wife Dorothy Ure in 1987, promising he would have it renovated so they could live in it.

Ure also bought three other Old Town properties on King, Johnson and Ricardo streets. He and Dorothy lived in the house on King, built in 1816. Beneath the rundown white siding is the original log dwelling – the only one in NOTL, the realtor says – built by a military carpenter.

The Ures were known to frequent antique and garage sales, purchasing pieces they felt would be suitable in heritage homes, but the houses they owned became storage properties for their treasures, rather than homes.

Robert, a member of Grace United Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, died in March and Dorothy, who worshiped at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, died in September. They are both buried in St. Andrew’s cemetery – where they can keep an eye on the Centre Street house just across the street.

All four properties owned by the Ures have been neglected, but together, are listed for sale at more than $3 million.

Chahinian says the terms of Dorothy’s will request that the Centre Street house not be torn down and he is going to do his best to find someone – likely local – who respects and appreciates the history of the house and who wants to restore it. It would make a great restaurant, he adds, and says he hopes the town would consider rezoning the property so the building could be preserved and restored.

The property is listed at $950,000 – but whether it would be worth more or less without the house is a tossup says Chahinian. The half-acre property is in a prime location in NOTL and minus the house and the restrictions that come with heritage buildings, might fetch the same amount. But there will be potential buyers who will see value in the building and its past, he said. “You walk in and you see and feel the history. This house is a project for the right person. I hope to find someone who will keep it and do their best by it.”

For additional information, see: www.homefinder.ca/listings/3061713-240-centre-st-niagara-on-the-lake-ontario-x3058997

Source: Penny Coles, The Niagara Advance, December 17, 2014.